Arborpedia
All routes

The tropical food forest

Stacking a humid-climate system from the canopy down to the shade crops beneath it.

Growing·Trees
  1. 01
    Mango, jackfruit and papaya growing together in a layered tropical homegarden
    Trees№ 5016 min

    Tropical Fruit Trees: Mango, Avocado, Jackfruit, Papaya

    The heavy hitters of tropical food forests — flowering triggers, the avocado's odd sex life, and why jackfruit may be the most underrated crop there is.

  2. 02
    A banana plant with a developing bunch and a sucker growing at its base
    Trees№ 0285 min

    Banana and Plantain: The Giant Herb That Feeds Millions

    Not a tree, seedless, and propagated entirely by suckers — plus the monoculture disease problem that has now destroyed the crop twice.

  3. 03
    Coffee bushes and young cacao growing beneath a canopy of taller shade trees
    Trees№ 0606 min

    Cacao and Coffee: The Understorey Cash Crops

    Two shade-adapted crops that built agroforestry economies — why sun-grown systems yield more and cost more, and what shade actually buys.

  4. 04
    A large fig tree with buttress roots and dense canopy in a tropical forest
    Trees№ 1615 min

    Fig Species: Tropical Keystones That Feed Everything

    Why 750-plus species of Ficus are the most important tree genus in the tropics, fruiting year-round and feeding more wildlife than almost any other plant.

  5. 05
    Moringa oleifera tree with feathery leaves and seed pods
    Trees№ 3004 min

    Moringa Oleifera: The Miracle Tree

    Everything you need to know about growing and using Moringa oleifera, the fast tropical tree with edible leaves and seed-based water purification.

  6. 06
    A dense grove of tall bamboo culms with light filtering through the canopy
    Trees№ 0276 min

    Bamboo: The Grass That Builds Buildings

    The fastest-growing plant on earth, the difference between running and clumping species, and why it flowers once a century and then dies.

  7. 07
    A dense syntropic planting line with banana, cassava and young timber trees at different heights
    Growing№ 4796 min

    Syntropic Agriculture: Farming by Accelerating Succession

    Ernst Götsch's system of dense stratified planting and heavy pruning, where the chainsaw is a fertility tool and succession is the crop rotation.

Previous routeGrowing under coverNext routeReading a hedgerow